Former Gov. Graham and others question bill to split Florida Supreme Court

A bill that would split the Florida Supreme Court into civil and criminal courts is being questioned by respected politicians such as former governor and U.S. senator Bill Graham and former Chief Justice Gerald Kogan.

Read this article from the Florida Bar News and let your state representatives and senators know how you feel:

Just what exactly is the problem?

That seemed to be the consensus held by a who’s who of Florida’s legal profession as they debated the court overhaul package, HJR 7111, during a conference call on April 14, the day before the Florida House voted for the same piece of legislation, 79-38.

HJR 7111 would amend Art. V of the Florida Constitution, dividing the state Supreme Court into two separate divisions, adding three additional justices, and adding Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices, among other things.

“There is no statistic to show that the court is overloaded right now,” began former Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero in his opening comments about the House’s proposal to split the court into two divisions. “Nobody in the Legislature has identified any statistics that would show an increase in justices is necessary. Our state Supreme Court has operated with seven justices for the last 70 years. There’s no reason to be changing it now.”

Read more at Florida Bar News .

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